Marcus did lose most of his beer belly. A renewed sense of purpose kept him busy and physically active as never before. His son Lane was now twenty five and was an aspiring engineer, trained under his father’s capable wing. Over the course of nearly twenty years underground, the engineering talents at hand, had shown themselves through extensive transformations. What began as a basic habitat with food production and some limited recreation, now extended well beyond the original physical boundaries, creating new venues, more green spaces and something of a suburbs, where families were able to live and almost convince themselves that things were normal and life was good.
Social dimensions also expanded, much of which was to nourish the young with physical activities and stable institutions of education. The benefits spilled over to everyone’s benefit. Higher learning for the young, became advanced research for the old. Every apprentice needed their master. Sports ranging from soccer to basketball to cave running was instated to keep youngsters active and healthy, but it also pulled in the entire community and added richness to their lives and gave everyone their health. It was the dynamic of multigenerational society at work, as youth aspired toward maturity, and the mature clung to their youthfulness.
The running caves were the most basic, yet arguably the most coveted resource they had added. It was simply a large meandering loop, ten kilometers long, with two connectors to allow for shorter journeys without doubling back. Over the full distances, the climbing elevation was four hundred meters, mainly dolled out as rolling hills underground. But there was a revered highlight for those capable of the long run. It was a series of ten switchbacks, each about ten meters of elevation gain. The width of the tunnels allowed two runners or walkers to be comfortably side by side. The project, like many others, took a long time. Patience was required underground, as dust mitigation and the need for many additional safety features was required. There was always the need to consider lighting and ventilation as well. The running caves alone were seven years in the making. But these challenging efforts were welcome.
Purpose was critical in maintaining one’s sanity. But after a dozen years underground, no amount of purpose could mask the gnawing sensation of hopelessness. It was a slowly developing problem, as not everyone succumbed to this feeling simultaneously. But as more depression started to appear, like an infection, it spread and its weight cascaded down on the entire community.
Avery had told his team that it was critical to begin the ascent toward the surface because they were still young and energetic. But the trigger for his decision to move early had more to do with the growing pandemic of depression. One individual had finally summoned the courage to take his own life and in so doing, showed many others a path for escape. It only deepened the depression, another sign to many, that there was no future. Avery’s program and the engagement of the community was a game changer. They were headed for daylight, well ahead of schedule.
“Hannah, what is the air looking like today?” Inquired Balanson. They were in the surface observation lab, which was linked to the air monitoring and drones now deployed on the surface. Hannah was the chief climate scientist in charge of the lab.
“Honestly? It looks great. The sensors are working perfectly and it appears that the rate of decrease in ozone is statistically significant, even over the one month we have been collecting data so far.”
“How long until it’s safe?”
“Current model they ran yesterday says that we could safely do a couple of hours on the surface, once a week, right now.”
“When will it be totally safe to stay outside?
“Model gives a range, two to five years. The limited data still has too much uncertainty. We need to go through the four seasons and see if there are fluctuations.”
“So what do you think? Drill the man holes?”
“Hell yah.”
“Okay, we’ll wait about six months before we start. I will take it up with Marcus.”
The two of them stared at the live feeds from several drones that were out combing the landscape. “Lots of saplings. Looks like plants are having no problem regenerating. I’m amazed that the seeds could have survived,” declared Avery.
“My guess is that they blew in from the far north. We did some simulation and it’s likely that the the ozone concentration above sixty degrees was sub critical.”
“What might that mean?”
“Could even be animals that survived.”
“People?”
“Who knows. But some of Alaska was hit directly. It’s too far west. Northern Canada, maybe. But not many people up above sixty degrees. There were towns up there. It’s possible. My guess is that it would still have been too toxic for people.”
Suddenly, something in the monitors caught their eye. It was a lone bird, winging its way south.
“Wow! So there’s your answer. Look at that!” exclaimed Avery.
“Ha ha! Yes! I’ll have the drone go after it and see if we can identify it.”
The news was like a shot of adrenalin to the community. They could almost taste the sensation of real sunlight beating down on green fields of grass and clouds littering a deep blue sky as the breeze carried them along. Engineering and construction teams had already started to build a network of four shelters close to the surface, each near a lake or a river and each connected by an underground roadway that would operate guided vehicles. There was a central shelter, that was directly above the deep habitat. In all, they had built the foundation to begin the process of re-emergence. This was all met with enthusiasm. Perhaps too much enthusiasm. Depression had now morphed into impatience. Impatience yielded to unrest. Oasis was now like a ticking time bomb. I needed to be defused, and soon.
Avery, meanwhile had another project underway. Most of the residents had no interest in shedding their human forms to be imprisoned in yet another form of cave, orbiting high overhead. But there were some of them, particularly the military men and women, who had relatives that had gone that route. They were conflicted about what to do. Being the new pioneers to resettle the Earth was mighty enticing. But then there was the allure of eternal life. At a minimum, there were plenty of Oasis residents that at least wanted to find out what happened. Did they survive? Avery had his communication experts finalizing the transceiver antenna, one that would fit through the narrow passage available and could deploy on the surface automatically. It required solar energy, as the passage was too long for wire. The transceiver was essentially a repeater and it communicated to the the underground using a laser. It was quite an engineering challenge to build, deploy and then align the devices involved. But the capability was well in hand.
Weeks after the discovery of the bird and then several others, the communication system was up and running and ready to start searching for Sahara.
“Our signal is weak, but with the directional antenna, and knowing where the Sahara should be, we should be able to get enough signal there, assuming they’re listening,” explained Fiona DiMarco, one of the comms experts. “We are sweeping an area and it’s highly likely that we should cross their path soon.”
“Let me know if you get something. Nice work,” offered Balanson.
Sahara residents all knew almost simultaneously when the signal was first apprehended. For their part, they knew that Oasis had already breeched the surface. Automated, high resolution satellite imagery and a precise knowledge of the location of the shelter, allowed them to focus on a small area of interest. The giveaway was the spotting of the drones. They were small, but on a clear day, Sahara’s capability was such that picking up these small bird-like machines was inevitable. Real bird sightings also stirred the interest of the Sahara community, some feeling regret in knowing that real nature, as experienced through a real human body, was still unmatched. But that was changing rapidly. And besides, it wasn’t as if there had been a choice.
Avery was shocked when he got the call from Fiona. “Sir! It’s her! Lola. She’s on the line. I’m patching her through.”
“Fiona! Broadcast it.” It went out as an alert and now everyone was listening to this monumental reunification of humanity. “Lola. It is so good to hear your voice.”
“Avery, it’s wonderful. We have been waiting and wondering about this day since the moment we got here.”
“We had no idea whether you all had made it, or not. Was there ever any problems or doubts?”
“No. I would say that it all worked just as we had planned. But there is a matter of some urgency that I should like to discuss with you. But that can wait. For now, I hope we can let people reconnect with loved ones. I’m under a lot of pressure to not tie up these precious airwaves.” They were precious, as it only allowed a single conversation at a time, for the moment. Days later, with collaboration on each end, that situation was improved. Now they could handle more calls. But that first day, Avery and Lola waited patiently until the very late hours, after the last conversation of the day was over.
“Lola, what is this urgent matter you mentioned?”
“We need Thorium and some other materials. We still have three serviceable launches from the surviving LEOs. I want to know if you can mine and do some refining?
“Let me get my team together in the morning regarding the Thorium. As far as volunteers for Sahara, I doubt there are many, very few. As you know, that was a requirement. We wanted only those that were determined to live out a biological human existence. I have thought of it myself. Liz and Jack are there, and others. I might take you up on it.”
“People should realize that it doesn’t change what happens on the ground. They will essentially have two lives. We can send down the equipment and have their consciousness uplinked. No one has to go anywhere. A part of them can live on forever.”
“It is enticing. I will probably do it. But most of these people are philosophically opposed. My crew is probably the exception. Some came because they had a sense of duty and loyalty to their comrades. So they will be more open minded about it.”
“Okay, let’s give it some time.”
“Did you see the birds?I mean the real ones?”
“Yes, and the greenery. It’s amazing how Earth is so determined to push forward new life. Is it safe?”
“Not quite. Soon. Maybe a couple of years. Meanwhile, we expanded the upper habitats. Getting ready. It’s just in time, I can tell you that.”
“Living underground is tough. I can imagine.”
“What about living in a machine? Isn’t that tough?”
“Not at all. When we have more time, I’ll explain how that works.”
New developments, which one would expect to be cause for celebration and hope, were having the opposite effect. Impatience and depression further blended into a potent cocktail of short tempers, lack of tolerance and ideas for how to accelerate progress towards the surface, no matter what. Always a man of strong will and independence, Joshua Zane and his followers formed their own plan. Knowing that it could not be done without everyone knowing, he first went to Balanson, not seek approval, but to layout his plan and how it would never jeopardize the safety of others. Discussions by the council, on which both Joshua and Avery were sitting members, resulted in shouting matches and tempers boiling over. In the end, through fear of retribution or other disruptive possibilities, Avery convinced the council to allow Joshua and some two hundred others who had signed a petition, to start an independent work site that would breech the surface well ahead of schedule, without risking any air exchange or water ingress to the main habitats.
Although not smooth by any measure, the process of humanity regaining its foothold on Earth had begun. Others taking on this job allowed Avery to refocus his team on the task of mining and refining Thorium and Fluorine and other compounds. It was an effort that would take years before running full swing. While that effort was still ongoing, Joshua and his team took the first steps onto a green, fertile plain under the watchful eyes of several drones that provided a live feed for those below. Hardly a soul wasn’t watching. Among the fascinated spectators were also thirty two million from high above. The readings were a little high, but for those not suffering preexisting respiratory ailments, all seemed perfectly fine.
Ten years later ….
People had long since completely abandoned the caves. Only Avery and a group of his supporters continued to reside there. Lola had made good on her word and sent below, the equipment required to upload anyone having the desire to do so. In the end, when it was explained, most people decided to actually go for it. Why not? But it had a strange effect. With a part of themselves now existing through the highest state of technology, there was a desire to abandon technology altogether on the ground. With the exception of those still mining and refining, down in the depths, the rest were now discovering tribal existence. The last gift of technology, something that enabled this newfound tribal existence, was the identification of herds to the north. Satellites found them, wandering south as the safe conditions opened up vast new grazing lands and fresh waters. Nearly all of the Oasis residents then left the safety of the shelters behind, taking only some basic tools, no advanced weapons and no technology of any kind.
Avery was also with Lola and the rest, up in Sahara. He continued to calibrate. He wanted his earthly self to keep updated with the new way of life. A life seemingly without limits. The loyalists that stayed behind with him, also continued to recalibrate. It was their way of staying motivated to do the thankless job of mining. It was as if they were saving themselves, the Sahara self the master, and the Earth self the slave, working to preserve the master by providing life giving energy.
Once the mining was complete and another one hundred years of energy was safely secured for the Sahara, the forty odd people that were now isolated from the rest, had lost purpose. They had no desire to go out and hunt and face the elements. Nor had they the desire to mind the shelters and live below ground. The constant recalibrations had shown them that life above was richer and longer and more productive. And it was certainly more entertaining. Yet they were there already, living on Sahara in a huge bustling society of online human intellect and imagination. The slave sitting down below, in the cave, was a merely a vestige, whose purpose had now expired. Avery was of a similar mind. But he had no desire to take his own life. He convinced the others. “Let’s give it a try. We can go find the rest and see how they have done for themselves. Why not? But, let’s do as they did. We should leave it all behind and seal all the entrances. Better that future humans don’t find it. It will only cause a problem.”
So it was agreed. As they detonated the last entrance and walked away with nothing more than they could carry on their backs, Avery felt a sudden sense of excitement. This was a good idea after all. Joshua was right.
The elders had abandoned technology, but they still could not erase the knowledge, the memories. But there had been a missing generation, and with the passing of the old, and the elders having decided to not share an oral history of humanity’s earlier ways, the new generation were simply people of the land. It would raise questions at some point, but for now, there was only the primal calling of the universe to deal with. Survival.
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